BRITISH RAIL CLASS 31

The British Rail 'Class 31' diesel locomotives, also known as the 'Brush Type 2', were built by Brush Traction from 1957-62.

Contents

Description

Refurbishment

Current operations

English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS)

FM Rail

Network Rail

BBC Top Gear level crossing collision

Preservation

Fleet Details

External links

Description

The Class 31 was one of the Pilot Scheme locomotives ordered by British Railways to replace steam traction. They were originally built with Mirrlees JVSS12 1250bhp and 1365bhp engines, but these were not successful and in 1964 a programme of works commenced to re-engine the fleet with 1470bhp English Electric engines and Brush electrical equipment. The locomotives were originally known as class 30 under TOPS, with re-engines examples joining Class 31. The class was originally intended for service on the Eastern Region, but gradually became common in both the Western and London Midland regions too.
Several sub-classes of Class 31 exist:

★ 31/0 - First batch of locos, fitted with electro-magnetic control equipment - withdrawn early as non-standard

★ 31/1 - The standard locomotive

★ 31/4 - Fitted with ETH apparatus

★ 31/5 - Former 31/4 with the ETH isolated for Civil Engineers Department use

Refurbishment

Current operations

English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS)

The final three 'EWS' locomotives were withdrawn in 2001.

FM Rail

In 1998, 'FM Rail' (then known as Fragonset Railways) purchased four redundant Class 31 locomotives from EWS. The first of these, no. 31452, was quickly repaired and repainted in a new black livery with a red mid-body band. It was quickly followed by nos. 31459 and 31468. Several more locomotives were also purchased, and in 1999, the first of two modified 'Class 31/6' locomotives re-entered traffic. The Class 31/6 subclass is essentially a modified Class 31/1 locomotive with through electric-train heating wiring. This enables a Class 31/4 and Class 31/6 to work in multiple and still heat the train, even if the no-heat Class 31/6 is attached to the carriages.
In 1999, Fragonset won a short-term contract with Silverlink for two locomotives to work in top-and-tail mode with two Mk. 1 carriages on the Bletchley-Bedford line. This was to cover for the non-availability of Class 117 and Class 121 diesel multiple units. The trial was a success, and in 2000 it was repeated in the summer timetable. The locomotives were retained until displaced by more modern Class 150/1 units cascaded from Central Trains.
By this time, the Fragonset Class 31 fleet had expanded considerably to include three Class 31/1, three Class 31/4 and two Class 31/6 locomotives. Regular work at this time included use hauling Class 317 electric multiple units from WAGN's Hornsey depot to Bedford for use with Thameslink. As units were still maintained at Hornsey, this meant regular workings between the two depots to swap units when maintenance was due.

Network Rail

'Network Rail' operates a small fleet of three Class 31/1 locomotive, nos. 31105/233/285, to haul test trains around the network. The locomotives were purchased from Fragonset, and overhauled at their Derby workshops. They have been repainted in Network Rail's new all-over yellow livery.
Prior to operating its own locomotives, Network Rail's predecessor, Railtrack, had hired two Class 31 locomotives from Fragonset. These two locomotives, nos. 31190 and 31601, were repainted in Railtrack's blue and lime green livery. With the overhaul and entry into service of Network Rail's own locomotives, these two engines were returned to Fragonset.
These three locos (105, 233, 285) will undergo a £250,000 refurbishment (each) to keep them working until at least 2010. To cover for when any one of these locomotives is undergoing refurbishment, Network Rail have hired 31602, for a year, although it has been said that it may be required for more, and more than likely will. It has already been painted into the Network Rail yellow livery as carried by 105,233 and 285.

BBC Top Gear level crossing collision

On the 21 August, 2006 Network Rail and the BBC television programme Top Gear staged and filmed a crash between a Class 31 railway locomotive and a family car in order to promote rail safety. The off-limits event was the first of its type for 10 years and took place at Hibaldstow level crossing near Scawby in Lincolnshire where the B1206 road crosses the Barnetby–Gainsborough railway line.
Two Class 31 locomotives and a parked Renault Espace were used during the crash. Network Rail's own 31233 was used to propel 31107 up to a speed of 80mph. Whilst the rear locomotive slowed down to a stop, 31107 continued to coast at a speed of 70–80 miles per hour into the road vehicle parked across the eastbound 'up' line.
For the crash, locomotive 31107 received a special black livery with the slogan "Level crossings — Don't run the risk" along the side in white lettering. The final 5 minute segment, presented by Jeremy Clarkson, was originally scheduled for 4 February, 2007 but was rescheduled, apparently due to a fatal crossing crash at Dingwall two days earlier.^[1][2] It was eventually aired on BBC Two on 25 February, 2007, shortly after the Cumbria derailment. A repeat of the program was pulled following a further level-crossing accident.^[3][4][5][6]
Oddly Class 31s appear to be the locomotive of choice for appearing in level crossing accidents on television, as another was used in a Dalziel and Pascoe episode where it crashed into a coach. This was filmed at Wansford Station Level Crossing on the Nene Valley Railway.

Preservation

33 locomotives have been preserved for use on heritage railways. These are listed below. Of note are the first built, no. 31018, and the last built, no. 31327.

Numbers carried (Current in bold)				Name	Livery	Location	Notes
D5500	'31018'	-	-	-	BR Blue	National Railway Museum	First-built locomotive
'D5518'	31101	-	-	Brush Veteran	BR Blue	Battlefield Line	-
D5522	31104	'31418'	-	''Boadicea''	BR Blue	Midland Railway Butterley	-
D5526	'31108'	-	-	-	Railfreight Grey	South Devon Railway	-
D5531	31115	'31466'	-	-	EWS Maroon/Gold	Dean Forest Railway	-
D5533	'31113'	-	-	-	Civil Engineers	Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway	-
D5537	'31119'	-	-	-	Railfreight Red Stripe	Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway	-
D5548	'31130'	-	-	Calder Hall Power Station	Trainload Coal	Battlefield Line	-
D5557	31139	31438	'31538'	-	BR Blue	Mid-Norfolk Railway	-
D5562	'31144'	-	-	-	Civil Engineers	Privately owned	-
'D5580'	31162	-	-	-	BR Blue	North Norfolk Railway	-
'D5581'	31163	-	-	-	BR Green	Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway	-
'D5584'	31166	-	-	-	BR Green	Wensleydale Railway	Currently For Sale
'D5600'	31179	31435	-	-	BR Green	East Lancashire Railway	-
'D5611'	31188	-	-	-	BR Green	Wensleydale Railway	-
'D5627'	31203	-	-	-	BR Green	Chasewater Railway	-
D5631	'31207'	-	-	-	Railfreight Grey	North Norfolk Railway	One of final three locomotive operated by EWS.
'D5634'	31210	-	-	-	BR Green	Dean Forest Railway	-
D5637	31213	'31465'	31565	-	Regional Railways	Dartmoor Railway	-
D5641	31216	'31467'	-	-	BR Blue	East Lancashire Railway	-
D5662	'31235'	-	-	-	BR Blue	Mid-Norfolk Railway	-
D5669	'31410'	-	-	-	Regional Railways	Privately owned	-
D5683	'31255'	-	-	-	EWS Red/Gold	Colne Valley Railway	Repainted in EWS livery for paint trials.
D5695	31265	31430	'31530'	Sister Dora	Civil Engineers	Mid-Norfolk Railway	-
D5800	'31270'	-	-	-	Trainload Coal	Peak Rail	-
D5801	'31271'	-	-	Stratford 1840-2001	Trainload Construction	Nene Valley Railway	-
D5814	'31414'	31514	-	-	Gatwick Express Intercity	Ecclesbourne Valley Railway	-
D5821	'31289'	-	-	-	BR Blue	Northampton & Lamport Railway	-
D5823	31291	31456	'31556'	-	Civil Engineers	East Lancashire Railway	-
'D5830'	31297	31463	31563	-	BR Golden Ochre	Great Central Railway	-
'D5862'	31327	-	-	-	BR Green	Strathspey Railway	Final locomotive built.

In addition, the following locomotives were previously preserved, but have since been scrapped.

★ 31123 ex-Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway - scrapped in 2006

★ 31421 ex-Midland Railway Butterley

★ 31442 ex-Churnet Valley Railway - scrapped in 2004

Fleet Details

EWS = English, Welsh and Scottish Railway

Class	No. Built( ★ Converted)	No. Range	Operators	Loco nos.	No. in Traffic(2006)	Withdrawn
'Class 31/0'	19	31001-31019	-	-	'0'	1980
'Class 31/1'	227	31101-31327	FM Rail	31106/128/190	'3'	-
			Network Rail	31105/107/233/285	'3'	-
'Class 31/4'	17 + 53 ★	31400-31469	EWS	31420/427/466	'0'	2001
			FM Rail	31452/454/459/468	'4'	-
'Class 31/5'	25 ★	31507-31569	-	-	'0'	1999
'Class 31/6'	2 ★	31601-31602	FM Rail	31601-602	'2'	-
'Class 31/9'	1 ★	31970	EWS	-	'0'	1991

=References=
1. ''wnxx.com'', News Archive: February 2007, 2007–02–04.
2. ''BBC News'', One dead in train crossing crash, 2007–02–02.
3. ''The Railway Herald'', Network Rail stage level crossing crash accident ''(pdf file, >4MB)
4. ''BBC News'', Top Gear screens train crash item, 2007–02–25.
5. Tele-photo pictures of the crash setup.
6. ''BBC News'', One dead in level crossing crash, 2007–03–01.

'BR Class 30 and 31'
TOPS numbers	(see above)
Early numbers	D5500–D5699, D5800–D5862
Builder	Brush Traction
Introduced	1957–1962
Wheel Arrangement	A1A-A1A
Weight	106.7–111 t	tonnes
Height	ft in	m
Width	ft in	2.67 m
Length	ft in	17.30 m
Wheel Dia.	ft in	1092/1003 mm
Wheel Base	ft	m
Minimum radius	chains	m
Maximum speed	90 mph	km/h
Engine	English Electric 12SVT
Engine output	1,470 hp	1,100 kW
Max. Tractive Effort	35,900 lbf	160 kN
Power at Rail	1,170 hp	872 kW
Brake type	Air & vacuum
Brake force	49 tons force	kN
Route availability	5 (31/1, 31/6) 6 (31/4, 31/5)
Fuel Tank	imperial gallons	2,409 litres
Heating type	None (31/1) Electric (31/4, 31/5, 31/6)
Multiple working	Blue Star

External links

★ Video